Pages

Monday, 27 October 2014

Blog Tour Review ~ Straight from the Heart (Straight from the Heart #1) by Breigh Forstner

ebook received for the tour in exchange for an honest reviewRelease Date: July 13th 2014Genre: YA, Contemporary RomanceISBN: 1500525987 ASIN: B00LS7LVS4Description:This is a story about a girl discovering and experiencing life for the first time.

Bryn Schaefler grew up rich. Her parents expected the best out of her, picked her boyfriend for her, and groomed her to be the next trophy wife fresh out of High School.

But when they discover she wants to pursue music instead of following in her mothers footsteps, they wanted to hear nothing about it.

That was when Bryn left for good.

By chance, she auditioned for main stream rock band Everlasting. Never in a million years did she think she would make it.

Cale Pelton knew it was his fault for the band scrambling around to find a new guitarist. Once he saw Bryn audition, he knew he had to have her. Not just in the band, but in his mind, body and soul.

I'm on the fence about Straight From the Heart. On one hand it was a quick, easy read, but on the other there was just something missing and didn't feel quite right.

I liked the overall concept of Bryn joining a rock band and breaking away from the rich kid lifestyle and her parents. I found it great that she had ambition and wasn't afraid to go for what she wanted. I was shocked by her parents' actions to begin with and admired her for having the courage to realise she didn't have to put up with it.

As well as this, I also liked the underlying tension between Cale and Bryn. Their relationship built nicely, even if it was a bit tame for me. I liked Cale, and he was a character I found easier to feel for; he seemed like an all right guy most of the time. However, saying that there were a few things that either irritated me or had me rolling my eyes. First of all despite Bryn breaking away from her parents, not once did she have to struggle for anything. She was still handed everything on a plate and got what she wanted way too easily. I mean the day she leaves she gets a job, an apartment, and a place in the band! I wish I had that kind of luck. To me it felt unrealistic and the author could have made more of her struggles as for me that's the most interesting parts of books like this.

Similarly, I never really warmed up to Bryn. She wasn't an easy character to like and I found her to be a little annoying. She went from one guy to the next and was always thinking about a different guy to the one she was with. I will say I liked that she had a relationship with Lucy, but with the guys I thought she came across as a tease and not very loyal. I think this is the main reason that has caused me to feel there wasn't something quite right as the book is written from her POV.

The only other thing I wasn't so keen on was the random mystery slotted in at the end. It just didn't work for me and the character who was behind everything's motives didn't seem to warrant the lengths they went to. It all seemed a bit rushed and random. How Bryn jumped straight to who it was with no clue is beyond me and then there's this huge cliff hanger! It seemed like the author was trying to fit too much it to such little space and it didn't work for me.

Overall I'm still on the fence about this book. I'm not sure whether I'll read the next one, but it may internet those looking for a tame, easy read.

About the Author

Breigh Forstner currently resides in her home town in south east Michigan with her two daughters. While she works full-time during the week, at night she spends time with her kids and writes until her fingers can’t type anymore. Her goal is to make it onto a best sellers list at some point in her career, and writes any chance she can get. She is a lover of all types of music and is a sucker for rock bands and tattooed bad boys.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; Share &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="https://www.goodreads.com/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;book reviews&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; and ratings with Sienna, and even join a &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="https://www.goodreads.com/group"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;book club&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; on Goodreads.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;